Unknown German Agent Diary, Winter 1941

The following came through an old friend, currently serving as Amnesty observer in the Kerman-Shiraz sector of the Caucasus, who knows about my "academical interest" in Great Game activities in the area. It was apparently offered for sale by a local "supporter of the free enterprise" in exchange for the equivalent of four british pounds, together with a 1937 edition of the "Handbook of Wehrmacht Engineer in the Field" that my friend decided to keep for himself.

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Unknown German Agent Diary, Winter 1941
Description:

Item 1 - a faded green envelope, found within the diary.

The envelope carries the mark of the Berlin Oriental Affairs division. The papers (seven typed pages) inside the envelope are signed by Von Hardenberg and dated Berghof, May 14th 1941. The gist of the document:

a - considering the particular character of Kurds, Aryans oppressed by arab-semitic elements and British imperialists, the Reich decides to extend its area of influence to the Kurdish Tribes of Turkey, Iraq and Iran, and of the Soviet regions, as to say to a territory ranging from the Leninakan at the north down to Falha in the south, and from Marash in the west to Hamadan in the east.

b - the Reich government decides to

. place in said territories, with the help of special agents, the nazist-socialist ideology;

. direct the Kurds towards revolution against their British or Arab oppressors;

. create an advanced beachhead that the Wehrmacht will be able to use after the Transcaucasian offensive.

c - with these aims in mind, the aforementioned agents in place are ordered to

. contact the most influential tribal chieftains, beginning with those that already are noted for their anti-British or anti-Arab attitude

. recruit units, small but fierce bands of volunteers that will be charged with subversive activities and the destruction of Economic or Military Targets that the agents will deem interesting. Said units will have the maximum free-hand in this sector;

. eliminate British agents or officers, both regular or undercover, that acting against the separatist feelings of the Kurds or are trying to attract them in their area of influence.

[Note: the fact that the agent did not destroy his orders after reading them is the first hint at the fact that we are dealing with a rank amateur. Further evidence in this sense surfaces throughout the main text of the diary]

Item 2 - A small (15x10 cm) hardbound diary, with a piece of string tied around it to keep it closed. The writing is small and cramped, in pale blue ink, making reading hard on the yellowed crumbling paper. Entries are not regular, and cover the period between September 23rd and November 8th 1941. Much of the text consists of lengthy, self-indulgent rants that carry no actual information on the area or the mission, but give ample insight on the character we are dealing with: he is clearly an amateur, selected for his knowledge of both the area and the local languages, and not for his (nonexistent) field experience.

[Note: the man is extremely liberal with the names of his superiors, contacts and connections, writing them in full in his diary - cause enough to label him as a blunderer. Anyway, this works for us: I'm trying to follow up on two characters that seem to carry some import in the big picture

. Moghul Kahn - the local contact and guide of the writer

. an Italian named Valdesi, apparently some kind of contact or connection in the Near-East/North Africa sector

Of course, the latter will be much easier to track down.]

The self-congratulatory description of his assassination of a British agent on the night of October 17th 1941 is a further proof of the above-mentioned amateurish attitude of the agent: the man was killed in a (relatively) crowded place, some unidentified locals being paid afterwards to dispose of the corpse; no attempt was apparently made to recover any kind of information about the British activities, rank, mission, contacts or background.

[Note: the dead Brit's initials were H.L.B., as the unnamed German agent apparently took the man's trunk as a form of spoils of war. Further investigations on this line should be carried out through British Intelligence contacts, _when feasible_]

Entries following the 20th of October are much more interesting. These describe the agent's meeting - through his local contact - with a small tribe (?) of mountain men that he hopes to indoctrinate and use as pawns in his activities in the area.

Here some inconsistencies arise.

The mountain men act like they never saw a westerner before, and yet are armed with a mixed supply of relatively modern firearms, and are more than willing to attack the targets that the agent points out, being "electrified by the promise of raiding and massacre".

The mountain men seem to be more at ease at night, and the agent is particularly repelled by their women, that apparently tease him during his stay with the tribe.

"The women stalk me, with their smell of goat, the red wisps of hennaed hair, like black witches, too curious, the strident voices, pitiless and irritating".

A lot of goat-centered imagery is used in these entries. Also, it is hinted by internal references that these men and women are not Kurds - or at least do not belong to the primary Kurdish stock.

It must be noted that the agent admits at being taken with a fever in this period - a fact that might explain the further deterioration of his prose and the many inconsistencies this section of his report.

The fever is responsible for the fact that the agent seems to be only able to sleep during the day - tormented by strange nightmares - while his nights are spent in a general feel of uneasiness caused by his hosts and their culinary tastes.

After a successful hit against a bridge (night of the 25th of October), and a dutiful report sent back to Berlin, the thing folds with a rapidity and a definiteness that is almost unbelievable.

On the fifth of November - only nine days after the posting of the report! - the agent is called back, with a letter ordering him to interrupt all current operations.

The following pages describe the man packing, the angry reaction of his allies - that already enjoyed "the foretaste of the chaos to come" - and a short time spent in a snowbound village. No other data are available, and I am rather dubious about the fact that the agent actually made it home - considering where his papers were found.

Item 3 - a cheap yellow paper envelope carrying the seal of the SS High Command, found within the diary. The envelope contains a single sheet of paper and a receipt.

In a few dry sentences the letter, signed by Dr. Teudt and dated Wevelsburg, November 2nd 1941, orders to

. interrupt all operations

. fall back in an Eastern Turkey town waiting for further orders

. pay off his men, keeping them in stand-by as a new agent will be sent to replace him briefly

No comments or observations on the previous reports are included.

The receipt is for 5000 pounds, shelled out by the SS coffers to pay the men.

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And this is it.

The diary is unpleasant reading to say the least - the endless bragging of the writer counterpoints a fat slice of aryan supremacist rants of which the guy himself apparently was not aware (as he claims to despise the nazi structure and ideals).

I come to think the cold blade of a knife across his throat was too merciful an end for such a character.

Be seeing you, gentlemen.

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Suggested) Reading stats for the diary are as follows:

Unknown German Agent Diary

Language: German
Reading time: 2 full days
Sanity loss: none if the reader is not aware of the Mythos. 1 Point loss if the reader knows about it.

Mythos: +1%

Keeper option: reading the diary might grant checks in R/W German, History and/or Psychology

This is from the Ice Cave.

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